Really? I think I might like Martha’s style best, actually. It’s very simple and pulled-together, revolving around a few core colors and shapes, and it reflects her character development over the series. I mean, I’ll admit that other companions also had cute looks, but Donna had some odd eggplant-tones and “statement” jewelry in her wardrobe, and Rose hit the lowest-of-the-low in NuWho costume choices by wearing this when she became the Bad Wolf:
Like, why. Why Punky Fish in this significant scene. Why. Why why why.
While Rose is off making style mistakes, Martha keeps it practical and pretty: rust reds, classy jewelry, low heels, fitted leather jacket, fancy hair. When I say “Martha,” you probably think of this:
This is the outfit that sets the pattern for what Martha wears. But it’s not the end of it, no sir; this is actually only near the beginning on Martha’s Terrific Style Journey, and I’m here to show you the rest of it.
Also, let me take a minute to admire this picture I found. Someone made their Barbie doll into Martha Jones. That is so awesome.
Weirdly, the Barbie picture shows off Martha’s style almost better than the actual picture of Freema Agyeman. Anyway: fitted jacket, flared jeans, and deep reds. Remember that.
Martha doesn’t always dress this way, though; when we first see her, she’s dressed like this:
It’s cute, but it’s nothing special; it’s blues and grays, and she blends in with the crowd. It shows how ordinary she is. During the episode, she’s dressed in a white lab coat and blue tanktop; it’s similarly not-exciting. Only after she returns to Earth, having had this weird alien experience, does she start to stand out—the script notes how “alone” she feels, and her costuming reflects that by shifting her color scheme away from what it was:
This is not the Iconic Martha Outfit I showed off earlier, though. Look how relaxed Martha’s dress is—the leather jacket is bunched up in one hand, and mostly we’re looking at her casual red tank (which I love because that deep red pattern adds such great texture—Rose’s outfits are always solid, bright block colors in simple fabrics, so this tank is really glamorous in comparison. It also shows how Martha comes from a different socioeconomic situation than Rose—for Rose, that tank would be the best item in her closet; for Martha, it’s for pubs). Martha is at her most dressed-down here, before she hops on the TARDIS.
By the time they land in Shakespeare’s day, Martha has got the jacket on, already looks more professional, and she’s starting to slide into Iconic Badass Adventurer Mode. Even Billy McShakes admires her style. As he should.
Look at her jewelry. Again: unlike Rose or Donna, Martha is from an upper-middle-class family, and her style choices reflect that. She’s been brought up in a classy atmosphere. Also, has anyone else noticed the logic behind Martha’s outfit? It’s like before she got out of the TARDIS she was thinking, “okay, I’ll wear the tank top in case we land on a hot planet, but I’ve got the jacket in case I get cold, plus it makes me look important, and I’ll match all of these so I don’t stand out too much in ancient times, also these shoes should be good for running in, and I’ll keep the earrings in because I look like a Queen.”
Shakespeare said so. It must be true.
Anyway, the next few episodes happen in the space of what must be only a couple days, because Martha keeps wearing this. Baptism by fire, definitely; in the space of one “trip” in the TARDIS are Daleks and witches and Macra. Cripes.
But then they go home, and we get another taste of Martha’s glamorous style. Witness that sparkly knitted headband! (I would wear that everyday if given the chance).
Here’s another view, though of course David Tennant has to go clutter up the frame as well:
And here it is again, just because I want everyone to appreciate how pretty Freema and Gugu are here. It also shows off the differences in Tish and Martha’s personality; Martha’s is put-together but still practical (she could run in it without worrying about messing up her expensive hairdo), while Tish apparently has a baby peacock nesting in her hair and fancier bling. Tish is moving up in the world, and Martha is moving—well, sideways. Into time and space and dark corridors and monsters’ maws.
Anyway, moving sadly away from the Headband That Is Everything, we get to 42, where Martha takes a break from the lovely textured tank to wear this:
I have no idea why she moves to something girlier, it’s kind of a blip in her general trajectory. Is she trying to get Ten to notice her? No idea. It doesn’t last long, anyway; then she gets to Human Nature/Family of Blood, which would be boring costume-wise except she gets to wear this nifty hat:
MARTHA IN KNITTED HEADGEAR. IT IS EVERYTHING.
Interestingly, this is the only time Martha dresses up in period-appropriate clothing—and it’s not because she wants to, but because she literally has to. It makes me wonder—does Martha just not like dressing up? orelseatlastsheunderstoodit (go follow them, now) and others (including me) have made the argument that over series 3, Martha grows into a Doctor-like figure, and since the Doctor certainly never adapts the clothing of the periods he visits, maybe this is meant to reflect that. It’s like, other companions have time to play dress-up. Martha has planets to save. So Martha opts for a general time-traveling style, and doesn’t veer out of it except in desperate cases. It’s a theory, anyway, and I’d say its logic makes sense for her personality.
As soon as “Family of Blood” is over and she can change into something that doesn’t involve a corset, Martha is wearing this jacket. The jacket is important, because though it shares the silhouette of her usual red one, it’s much more military looking—a style that Martha increasingly relies on, and fitting for the Remembrance Day note this story ends on. Martha is SO much more together than she was back in “Smith and Jones,” when a red tank top sufficed. Look at her. She could command troops. She already has.
Anyway, “Blink” happens. Despite the fact that she’s barely in it, Martha gets two adorable outfits.
(I’m cheering because Martha is wearing headbands again, but never mind me)
Even though it’s a departure from her usual thing, I love that last Blink one. The boots, the flared skirt, the knitted sweater, the way it sticks to Martha’s color palette but looks so, I don’t know, Narnia-y? It’s so cute. I don’t know how anyone could say it isn’t great.
Look, Rose is jealous. Though her Wichita Falls T-shirt is appropriate for the nineteen-year-old she is, she never matches Martha in Intergalactic Time Traveler Fashion Goodness. Martha looks like the first female Doctor. Rose looks like she’s going down the street to buy some ice creams.
“Utopia.” Martha’s abandoned the red leather jacket by this point, and is really going in for the military look. Any of the casualness her red tank afforded her is gone, because Martha’s here not to get shot and to run very fast and save the universe many times. Her silhouette and necklace remain the same, but the color and tone has shifted. Martha is hardening.
“Sound of Drums.” She has hardened. Full-out soldier, no color left. The Doctor has gone and destroyed everything. Martha still looks great. Hurrah.
“Last of the Time Lords.” a-HA! Martha is back in the iconic Martha outfit–but she’s let her hair down, a first for this particular one. It could mean nothing. It could mean that she’s returned to her roots but as a different, freer person. It could mean that she’s tired of the Doctor’s bullshit and wants to show him what a gorgeous person he missed out on. You never know.
When we see her again, she still has her hair down, but the fitted military jacket theme is back, never to be let go of again. Martha works with soldiers now, and she’s gone from playing with the look to owning it.
Like, really. Even her casualwear has buttons and lapels and “get out of my freaking way” shoulders on it now. It goes back to how tied-together Martha is: she’s moved on from that red jacket and loose tank from earlier, but she’s kept the same shape in her jackets, her same silhouette. She just looks more badass now, more like an alien-fighter.
Military jackets all day, everday. This is from “Stolen Earth/Journey’s End,” and she looks so military and so professional. No other companion touches this corner of the market. It’s Martha’s alone.
What I find is hilarious is that when Rose comes back to Earth, her “I’ve been on the TARDIS for two series and mentioned constantly for two more, I just broke through the universe, I am definitely a spacefaring badass now” look is basically a girly variation of what Martha was wearing on her second adventure. Look at the jacket-tank combo: it’s basically Martha’s “Shakespeare Code” thing, but in Rose’s blocky, flat colors and without the texture or jewelry. It’s Martha-lite, like Rose is trying to catch up. I don’t want to bang on Rose, but seriously, Martha is lightyears away from her in the style department.
And now look at these two cuties. Despite the fact that there was zero buildup to this romance, I ship it, not least of all because Mickey (he of the ugly yellow T-shirts) and Martha (she of the beautiful rust-red clothes) have apparently matched their outfits before leaving the house today, so anyone who sees them knows immediately that the hardened alien fighters have come to town. Look at how Mickey’s is still a little more casual, a little looser maybe. Not Martha: she’s here to wear fit black military jackets and kick your butt. Also, see her hair! In Doctor Who and Race, one of the contributors says that maybe her cornrows signal Martha returning to her African roots. Sure, why not? Whatever the reason, they fit with Martha’s style: compact, lean, well-fitting, confident. Out of her face and not in her way, but still pretty.
Martha’s wardrobe isn’t adorable, like Clara’s, or flamboyant, like Donna’s, but her clothes are classy and useful and elegantly combined, and they show how she hardens over time and becomes less of an everyday middleclass med student and more of the scifi heroine who spans centuries and planets. It suits her arc in a way it might not other characters (except maybe Amy)—while Clara, Rose, and Donna lark around, Martha sees horrible things and does wonderful things and she dresses to save worlds, not to have a vacation. She’s kind of like the Doctor in that way—but ten times more stylish, of course. :)
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